the 61-member group shot of TTL for BIF-5… how it was done….

24 April 2013

probably should’ve come up with this post several days back, but circumstances led me to wait a bit more than I would’ve liked…. anyway, there’s always a time for everything, and perhaps this is the time for this post…. “Bangladesh in Frames V” (BIF) came to an end last night (23rd April 2013) making us feel a bit empty…. this group photo that we’re talking about was on display outside Drik Gallery for five days during the exhibit…. those who are wondering why a group shot like this is so special to us, can visit our previous two posts on group shots of this nature…. the one for BIF-3 (2011) and the one for BIF-4 (2012) set a standard for “Through the Lens: Bangladesh” (TTL) and made our work harder…. this meant that every year we have to produce something ever more creative and ever better…. that sounds ominous, but it also throws a challenge at us that forces us to think out of the box and put an extra bit of effort….

the brainstorming… or whatever….

very unfortunately this year was an exception and we had very little time to prepare…. the previous two years involved a lotta brainstorming, planning, site visits, etc… this time round, there was none of that…. yet, it had to be done…. the probable site for the shoot was selected just a day before the shoot…. and we still weren’t sure whether that site was really perfect for what we intended to carry out…. on 12 April, we gathered around Dhaka University’s Curzon Hall in the late afternoon hours…. before the group really formed up, I took the ever so creative Hameem Shakhawat with me for a walk around the place…. this time round I didn’t have the company of the ever-brilliant AKA… so, I needed someone to cook some unique ideas with me….

lets go for ‘Plan-B’ first….

we looked around Curzon Hall and picked the Hall’s main gate as the backdrop for the group photo…. this was the ‘Plan-A’…. but it didn’t really impress us… the spot lacked the dynamism we were looking for…. the angles (camera angles) were a bit flat and it was not easy to get a good vantage point…. the spot also lacked any geometric patterns or any real dynamic lighting…. the late afternoon light was not bad, but it didn’t really make the building look particularly flattering because of some big trees between the sun and the building…. and even worse was that the light was dropping fast… there was no guarantee that the light would be there even after 15-20 minutes…. so, it was time to look for a ‘Plan-B’…..

Double-deckers!!

we decided to go outside the Hall compound to explore something else…. the superb “Doel Chattar” would’ve been a nice place only if we could halt the traffic on that busy intersection for half-an-hour or so…. hmmm…. okk…. next…. right, there were Dhaka University double-decker buses lining up on the road right next to Curzon Hall compound…. Hameem proposed if we could shoot our group lining up all the buses…. well, thats the spark that was needed…. this weird idea gave rise to something better and we thought it might not be a bad idea to shoot just a single bus, making it a whole frame… the double-decker would actually be the frame (well, almost)….

the race against time!

but the problem was time….. the buses had a schedule…. and they were already leaving…. Shudipto said that they usually leave by around 5:00PM…. and it was already 4:56PM…. yet, we decided to test our luck, as the bus right in front didn’t seem to be readying for anything…. Mithun brought the news this particular bus was gonna move by 5:30PM….. gotcha!!…. it took less than 10 minutes to muster all the people in front of the bus…. the the bus itself was capable of showing barely 20-plus faces…. so, rest of the group had to stand or sit in front of the bus….

why this particular bus?

this particular bus looked like best choice, as this one was the cleanest of all on the outside… it didn’t have any marking at all…. that suited our idea more than anything else… in fact, this is the very fact that led us to believe that a frame filled with only the bus might look good…. AKA had to add some copy to this one for the big banner…. so, if there was no space left outside the bus, where would the text go?…. you guessed it right…. on the bus itself…. perfect display…. and we had all the confidence on AKA…. he’s the best graphic designer I’ve seen….

the technicals…..

ok, back to the shoot…. sunlight was almost non-existent that place…. it was barely there…. I brought the Elinchrom Ranger unit with me as the main (and only) light… I wasn’t sure about the exact place of the shoot, thats why I didn’t risk bringing in more flashes…. more flashes mean more time, which we never had…. we had to set the light across the road left of the camera…. there were vehicles plying through the road between the group+bus and the camera+light…. cheap 28-80mm lens on D700…. @44mm…. f13 for maximum depth and sharpness…. ISO400 (didn’t wanna push it too hard for the massive print; last time heard some complaints for ISO1200)… shutter was 1/40sec (started with 1/125sec)…. well, could’ve chosen a faster shutter speed though, but it would’ve looked like taken at night and would’ve been even more contrasty (it already was)…. so, some of the areas in some of the shots turned a bit blurry when everyone shouted and raised their hands, even though most of the motion-stopping power was provided by the Ranger unit, which was shooting at almost full power…. the light was on the other side of the road, and this distance reduced the power on the subjects to some degree…. some light fall-off resulted because of this distance….

we missed AKA!

the first shot was taken at 5:05PM and the last one at 5:11PM…. the last few were taken stopping traffic on the road for around 30 seconds or so…. there was no way to look at the post-view on LCD while the traffic was stopped…. quite annoyingly, some of the participants in the group shot still ended up talking to each other…. we gave proper warnings, but were not harsh enough as managers of a chaotic group of people…. we missed AKA here…. his presence was a commanding factor during all of the previous group shots…. he was meticulous with the placement of every single individual during the previous shoots…. and also, with a little look at the back LCD, we could’ve corrected some of the dark areas with some reshuffle in placement of people, but thats quite hypothetical given that we were shooting a group while stopping traffic on a busy road….

we did go back to the ‘Plan-A’ once the more acceptable ‘Plan-B’ was shot…. we completed the shoot in ever poorer light conditions…. it was really dull and looked almost overcast…. and we knew straightaway that this isn’t the one we looked for…. so, I’m not publishing that photo…. let that be a mystery….

protecting photographers’ copyright…

03 April 2013

those who know me long enough would probably know how vociferous I had been against violation of photographers’ rights… though this is a global problem, I would like to focus more on local terms…. a local campaign in each market is more likely to yield global benefits… each market needs to be educated individually before something substantial can be gained…. and its true that a lot of things have been achieved since the really bad days… a lot more people are now thinking twice before using images straight off the web without credit…. yet, we have a long way to go…

who’s responsibility is this?

who is to be responsible for fixing this problem?…. well, this is a problem that involves many, which is why many should be made responsible for this…. and when we talk about the responsibility to solve this, it touches every single stakeholder… from the copyright holders to ultimate beneficiaries, everyone has some kind of role to play…. today we will talk more in terms of commercial usage of photos… not all kinds of photos though… photos taken on an assignment paid by the client is obviously something different… but stock photos used commercially have a much bigger issue regarding copyright; at least, in the context of Bangladesh, as there are lots of photographers involved in this kind of a trade… lets go a little deeper into this issue and try find out some remedies….

if you live in a jungle, use at least some protection!

the first responsibility comes from the photographer… if the photographer doesn’t know whether his/her property has some value or not, there’s no point arguing…. remember that we’re not talking about photos that were donated by photographers for some charity or something similar…. we’re talking about photos, whose copyright specifically belongs to the photographer and the photographer chooses to keep that copyright to him/herself…. now, what can the photographer do to claim his/her copyright?…. if a photo is in cyberspace, there are innumerable ways the photo can be used by the viewer…. when you know that you live in a jungle, its better to take at least some precaution… though there isn’t a perfect solution for anything, yet, a minimum protection should be taken….don’t let others get corrupt so easily… let them work hard…. sometimes, that hard work would force them to give up stealing!

the dirty, but effective work!

now, what can be the protection?…. forbidding download, if possible…. some websites allow this option… yet, you can’t prevent screenshot…. what I do, is not supported by everyone, but its what I do and I’ve seen some benefits of it…. watermarking!…. its true that its that dirty work and it taints the photo, but that what its required sometimes to protect its soul… I use a watermarking as subtly as possible…. I faced a lotta criticism after applying my first watermarks, but I learned my lesson the hard way…. and now, after starting watermarking, photo-theft has gone down quite a bit…. at least, illegal commercial usages have stopped… I haven’t seen violations like Ekushey TV (2007) or The Daily Ittefaq (2008) since I’ve started watermarking…. although one of the photos was used by The Daily Ittefaq and printed ‘with’ the watermark… I kept the watermark very light to keep the beauty of the photos…. I guess that was a mistake… anyway, lesson learned…. and though watermarks can be removed, its a warning that puts off a lotta people… its dirty, but effective!

neighbourhood watch..

illegal corporate use of photos is the most worrying…. they’re making businesses from your photo without sharing anything with you… this is criminal practice…. yet, when application of copyright law is as vague as it is in Bangladesh, there’s hardly any strong stance the photographer can take against the violator(s)…. so, should the photographer give up?…. definitely not… main strength lies in organising capability… its always great to be part of a strong community…first of all, it facilitates neighbourhood watch… whenever someone notices something fishy, it gets circulated within the community…. this helps to spot violations much more quickly…

unity is strength!

a community of photographers doesn’t necessarily need to consist of professional photographers only… in fact, there are benefits to having non-professional photographers in the group…. these people are likely to be involved in another job…. and there’s always a likelihood that they can play an important role in that organisation raising awareness among his/her colleagues or raising voice when injustice is being done against photographers… they can act as pressure groups within business establishments…. amateur photographers in purchase departments can push for policy changes…. people working in the marketing side can calculate campaign budgets with budget assigned for photos (not for free photos off the web)… the same thing goes for people working in the advertising and promotion media…. people with good networks can access violators’ policymakers and put pressure on them to resort to legal ways…. I’ve seen all these methods succeed and also, fail…. those which failed, they failed because of insincerity on the part of the responsible people…. business interests sometimes take priority over photographer community issues…. as I said at the start, the responsibility lies with all stakeholders…. people capable of changing things have a bigger role to play…. if they fail to live up to the principle, they fail the unity…. because in the end, its the unity in principle that can reduce or stop copyright violations…. unity is strength!

I know there are many more things to talk about here… perhaps some other time… please don’t forget to leave your feedback… your feedback keeps us going….

old memories bring emotions….

26 March 2013

the 42nd birthday of our nation is a momentous occasion to remember a passion that has always been with us for the last six years…. Through the Lens: Bangladesh (TTL) group had been a part of our lives throughout these years…. we had been through memories that have become gold by now…. today, looking back towards those memories made me emotional…. and also inspired me to write this post with all those oldies….

part of the photographers’ group on the Basila Photowalk… 05 September 2008

one of the most popular of TTL’s activities was photowalks…. and I still remember the first one…. the Third Buriganga Bridge was yet to be completed…. 05 September 2008…. we crossed the river on boats and spent some good times on the edge of the water there, taking photos…. the photos remind us of the people who had been with us on that day….

the Sundarbans tour was one of the most memorable….

the first safari tour of TTL (24-25 October 2008) was even more dramatic…. the Sundarbans tour would be remembered not just for the photos we made there, but we really enjoyed our company…. it was the start of all those fun that gave rise to the safari concept…. subsequent tours to Tanguar Haor, Bandarban, Kuakata, and many other places were landmarks and always inspired new tours…. photowalks and safaris are currently some of the best ways to practice and learn photography, especially for the new photographers….

the posterwalk on the night of 19-20 March 2009 was the craziest!

also remember the first exhibition of TTL, the BIF-1…. the craze of those times can’t possibly be described today…. it was the night of 19-20 March 2009 was the craziest of all, when we went out in numbers to do postering for the event!

there are just too many memories to remember…. besides these photowalks, safaris and posterwalks there were the workshops, the exhibitions, the award ceremonies…. all have their own memories…. I can go on all day…. the best thing is that TTL became part of our real lives…. we started off from an online community based around Flickr…. but we ended up being real-life friends…. and TTL was the platform that brought us together…. thank you TTL!

TTL turns 6 and the dream continues

Reblogged from Around us:

Today is the 42nd birthday of Bangladesh and the whole nation is celebrating it with joy.

Today TTL also turned to 6.

"Through The Lens" photographic group has crossed 6 successful years. Over these 6 years TTL has defiantly changed the photographic arena of Bangladesh. TTL has seen and represented Bangladesh as it was never done before. TTLers is roaming around the country with their camera and capturing the beauty of it.

Read more… 111 more words

TTL is not just a photographic group; its a dream of many....

critiquing the critique….

14 March 2013

it was last on 09 March 2013 when we had a fabulous day with a monthly event of Through the Lens: Bangladesh (TTL)…. the 24th TTL Photo Adda…. I was lucky to have attended this event after so long… it wasn’t just a typical critique session that used to happen previously…. the perspective of learning certainly broadened with the addition of two presentations…. there was learning all around…. for those who missed, its just another motivation not to miss the next one….

anyway, apart from the superb presentation by Mitul Bhai on master photographer Sebastiao Salgado and his work, there was another presentation done by Faisal Bhai… and how honouring for me say that that presentation was on me!…. I was humbled to say the least…. Saud Al Faisal is one of the my favourite photographers and getting a presentation from him is something to remember…. first of all, its a big thanks to Faisal Bhai…. this post is mainly about that presentation…. well, if I started talking about that presentation during the event, there would’ve been little time left for other activities during that evening…. so, its better to take time and write something about it, which can, over time, become another content to talk about….

the surprise!

it was a very honest presentation by Faisal Bhai…. sometimes its difficult to express true feelings about someone when that person sits in front of you…. but he overcame that with his masterly delivery…. I really liked his analysis…. he did a lot of work behind this presentation and prepared some hypotheses… and based on those, he used the contents in an almost poetic way…. once he contacted me regarding the presentation, I gave him more than 40 photos which he could use…. but I was surprised to see that most of the photos were not used in the presentation…. then I realised that the presentation was more about the subject matter than a portfolio…. its true that due to lack of time he couldn’t contact me for some of the photos and he just used the watermarked versions from web…. but the end result was worth mentioning… its an example for anyone trying to a presentation on someone…. do the homework…. analyse, hypothesize, and then present an idea, not a body a work…. thats the way to go… a great learning indeed….

Faisal Bhai started with my fascination for the picturesque…

the importance of critics….

Faisal Bhai rightly mentioned my inclination towards the picturesque… colours always attract me…. in my view, we see colours with our eyes, and in many cases, taking the colours out would cheat the viewer…. but only if the colour is an important part of what you are trying to portray…. he also mentioned that apart from a few, he couldn’t remember any of my B&W images…. this is a feedback that I never got and also never thought about…. its a trait of mine that I never had to talk about; not even within myself…. now I feel how right he is about me…. its great to think about your work from a different perspective…. I have some monochrome photos that I call my favourites…. but I never had a look at my works out of my own body!…. this is why critics are so important….

My observation of day-to-day life took a major seat in the presentation…

the value of pre-work….

he also picked my attraction for simple day-to-life…. things that aren’t world-changing, yet people do on a day-to-day basis…. simple people with at their workplace, place of resting, place of worship… he also picked the point about attention to detail…. taking a thread out of a photo on harvesting, he expanded this particular view to include my blogging on various places…. he even mentioned some details about my writing that truly took me by surprise…. he picked a line from my works which says that I capture my travel experience…. he also backed it up with a series of photos from my 2009 Kuakata blog post where I portrayed my whole journey,  not just the title place….. I didn’t know that someone could notice such details in my write-up…. thats an instant inspiration for me…. he also mentioned my presentation entitled Wheels of Kuakata where I took the perspective of an innate object….. it also shows the value of pre-work… he not just observed my work, he was very detailed about it…. and thats why he was able to go so much deeper….

My evolution into a user of artificial light was explained in detail…

 

My attention to detail was a talking point in the presentation….

hypothesize…..

then he started talking about my evolving photographic style…. he showed my inclination towards use of artificial light…. he also picked up on my work on the TTL group shot that I did with Avik Bhai right before BIF-3 exhibit in 2011…. he again brought up the words “attention to detail” as a huge complement…. he described the shoot from his position among the participants….. this not just shows his power of observation, but also highlights the strength of his hypothesis…. he could write an essay… a straight essay…. but instead, he picked up a few lines and made sense of it all…. he could go much deeper on those few lines, which is always preferable to a shallow set of words on a really wide topic…

My current endeavour was the final topic of the presentation….

the flow….

then in the last part of the presentation, he picked upon my current venture with portrait photography….. again, Faisal Bhai concentrated on one part of my work, newborns…. but thought his main area of concentration was on ‘creative use of light’, he didn’t go into that much detail….. I have to admit this part could’ve been even more relevant if it was shown how my creative use of light helped my new venture…. yet, its the flow of the presentation that had so much for everyone…. the way he started it with my early works, then he moved into my evolution, and then ended with the latest works…. its something to learn from….

I can’t thank Faisal Bhai more for the beautiful and masterly presentation…. its a learning for everyone regarding what approach one should take while talking about someone’s works…. with the plan of TTL to continue with this kind of events and Faisal Bhai’s desire to this kind of presentations on a regular basis, I can only see things in the future….